


Mate, You're In My Soul (forevermore)

by baka_tsumibito



Category: Free!
Genre: AU: Myths and the Supernatural, I reached out, M/M, Post Season 2, Soulmate AU, day 4: it's my turn, rinharuweek, you took my hand
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-01
Updated: 2014-12-01
Packaged: 2018-02-27 16:22:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2699459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/baka_tsumibito/pseuds/baka_tsumibito
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Soulmate AU</p><p>"Every soulmate is inscribed in stone."</p><p>Soulmates (romantic, platonic, sexual, etc.) are revealed by the government to the individual just before their 18th birthday.</p><p>This means Rin is going back to Japan. It's too bad his preferred choice of a soulmate has been ignoring him since July.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mate, You're In My Soul (forevermore)

 

It’s May.

Rin looks at the outdoor pool; it’s getting colder, and he knows he won’t be able to swim here for much longer.

He almost wishes Haru were here; but that’s a thought he has every day, so he pushes it aside for now and continues contemplating the water.

The cold, flowing paths carved by the bare foot he has just dipped in do nothing to help him forget, so he relents, and allows thoughts of Haru to fill his mind. 

Haru, who potentially takes baths just as cold; who might be making the transition to his own outdoor pool right around now.

(Rin doesn't know because Haru's letter is late. That's all. ) 

Rin had last written him around two weeks ago, and replies usually take about a week (personally, Rin always chooses the express path, but he can't say the same for his correspondence partner).

It's fine, he's decided. A mess-up was bound to happen at some point; not that they've been doing this for very long.

It had been him who'd sent the first letter (of course), messily scrawled during his plane ride when the first bit of homesickness and _longing_ had hit. He'd tried to maintain some degree of coherency, but when he'd received a neat, but curt reply 6 days after hesitantly posting it, he'd discovered that Haru had been so baffled by its contents that he'd resorted to writing out step-by-step instructions to grilling mackerel -- the _japanese_ way -- and he allowed himself to get caught up. Haru had received a thick packet on how to cook beef the _australian_ way days later; hence the game had begun. 

Rin idly wonders if Haru is giving him silent treatment because his last letter had been mostly nagging him to adopt a better diet, interspersed with short tidbits about his Australian competitors. 

If this keeps up, he thinks while withdrawing his foot from the chilly pool, maybe he'd send another one before the month was over to placate Haru during his transition to warmer weather.

Rin walks away from the pool without a backwards glance, intent on revamping his training schedule (and maybe even diet), intentionally brushing away the remnants of _Haru_ , tugging away at the corners of his mind. 

* * *

 

It's mid-June when Haru's long-awaited letter finally arrives. 

During this time, Rin hasn't sent him a single word. He's trained in the indoor pool, dropped by Russell & Lori's twice to play with Winnie, and made a hesitant call back home where Captain Rei had regaled him with the fantastic tales of the next generation Iwatobi High School Swim Club - all while Gou and Nagisa shouted about muscles and cream bread respectively in the background-- and even Sousuke and Makoto have sent him messages of some sort with negligible updates about their lives.

 _It's about damn time_ , he thinks, while roughly ripping into the envelope ( _Impatient?_ Asks a smug voice in the back of his head he'd rather ignore). 

He pulls out a thick sheaf of papers; so big, in fact, that he freezes for a moment, wondering if Haru's mailed him some sort of application, by mistake. 

It's not supposed to be a letter in Rin's mind, but it is. It's the longest thing he's seen Haru write, which scares him. 

Gone is the eagerness with which he usually reads Haru's letters. In it's place is anticipation, which lasts him the whole way through until it arrived at the end, and fades to confusion. 

It's not only long, but incredibly sappy for a letter written by Haru's hand, but that's not the only problem. 

Rin would be utterly transfixed _if only_

 

 _it didn't sound like a goodbye._  

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally planned out as its own story, but has now morphed into a rinharuweek creation. 
> 
> Next installment coming soon! Featuring more miscommunication (scratch that, just no _communication_. Period.) and the arrival of Obon...


End file.
